10 week old puppy growling at my son - need to deal with ASAP

blue_monkey_2

I've just come off the phone to a behaviourist recommended by the vet and he is giving me a call to see when he has a spare appointment and he will come for 2 1/2 hours. I think this is best as we can then all get our place in the house and it'll help deal with our other dog too - as she jumps all over us when we come in and I'd like that to stop.

I have asked what we can do for now and he has said my son has to ignore her completely - pack leaders ignore those lower than themselves, which is going to be very strange to be honest - I thought he would have to make more of a fuss with her, but yes, she is asserting her authority and is trying to be better than him which has to stop. Until he comes out I cannot really find anything else I guess.

I am going to a puppy party in a few weeks time, she is still too young to take out but I've been told by him I have to walk them seperately to start with too. I'll come back and update on just what has happened and where we are at. My other dog was really easy but at least we have a way of dealing with it.

I do think she gets overtired though and she would run about for most of the day if I let her, I have noticed when she gets tired she starts to play more aggresively, I've just seperated the pair of them and put her in her crate (her bed is in there) and despite seeming wide away and playful, she has gone straight to sleep. The training man said she needed definate structure so I think I am going to get a time table so she has to go to bed at certain times in the same way kids do.

I'll definately come back and update though - now to get on with the housework!

EmptyPockets

blue_monkey wrote: »

I have asked what we can do for now and he has said my son has to ignore her completely

I find this rather odd - isn't your son ignoring the puppy completely, kind of going backwards? I'd have thought the pup would find this very confusing, and can't see what it will teach her, apart from that humans can be very strange... Plus, it may well damage the bond between your young son and this little pup.

I would be very wary of the advice you receive from this 'behaviourist' - remember, not all 'experts' do things the same way, some are still stuck in the dark ages when it comes to dog training, and you may find you need to look elsewhere for someone who uses different methods...

threemuttleys

I highly recommend you Pm Sarabe on here (she is a dog trainer) for advice

catlou

threemuttleys wrote: »

I highly recommend you Pm Sarabe on here (she is a dog trainer) for advice

Totally agree, she has excellent methods and thinks that ignoring your pup does not teach them anything.

In the puppy training classes I went to we were taught to ignore things and in hindsight I can see this isn't a good thing and in some small ways has affected my relationship with my dog.

ps. Don't want to confuse you more! all trainers have different methods but most of the forward thinking ones now seem to be working on the fact that "pack theory" is outdated and incorrect.

quietheart

Oh I had just the same problem a few months ago with our pup and my 7 yr old. I was really concerned but I'm glad to say she's 6 months now and wouldn't dream of doing it now!
The main thing we did was to put my son in charge of feeding, pup only got her feed from him, only got treats from him and was only put on the lead by him. It only took a couple of days before she knew he was higher in the pack and started to show a bit of respect.
Good luck in getting it sorted, you are already taking steps to manage your dog so I'm sure it'll be fine in no time.

elliesmemory1

I agree that the pack theory is now thought of as outdated. Some of it can be quite dangerous ie alpha rolls etc. I would make sure you get a good behaviourist that uses modern reward based methods.

blue_monkey_2

Oh, I am now confused as I thought I would be doing the right thing with the bahaviourist. My friend used one for her dog and she told her even dangerous things such as only feeding the dog raw bones (the vet said not to!) I guess one is going to have different ideas from the next. This is why it is so hard to get it right.

I'll PM sara tonight as I am supposed to be cleaning the house today (ha, and have not got far).

elliesmemory1

You are doing the right thing in getting a behaviourist. You just need to make sure you get a good one! Try looking at the apdt website.
Some people set themselves up as behaviourists or trainers with no qualifications.www.apdt.co.uk/

Caroline_a

blue_monkey wrote: »

Oh, I am now confused as I thought I would be doing the right thing with the bahaviourist. My friend used one for her dog and she told her even dangerous things such as only feeding the dog raw bones (the vet said not to!) I guess one is going to have different ideas from the next. This is why it is so hard to get it right.

I'll PM sara tonight as I am supposed to be cleaning the house today (ha, and have not got far).

I think you'll find that most people who feed their dogs a raw diet will feed raw bones. It's cooked bones that are dangerous to dogs.

DogsBody

blue_monkey wrote: »

We chose the pup because she had grown up in a family environment and there were children the same age as ours, the boys were always carrying her around, and we did all the checks possible with KC to ensure we was buying from the right place and we have had her vet checked and she is lovely but we just have this one problem - which albeit little is also huge.

This bit caught my eye - if the pup was always being carried around by the boys in her first home and is now objecting to your boy doing the same, perhaps she had 'bad' experiences with being carelessly handled and is assuming your son will be the same.

I have always found that most dogs are not all that keen on being picked up generally (it's not really all that natural for a dog once it can move around by itself), and this has to be 'trained in', making sure that pup is always secure, never dropped/scared, rewarded for not struggling, introduced gradually in very short/low lifts to begin with etc. I was very glad that I took the time to do this with my GR when she was small, as she was happy to stay calm and be lifted as a 32kg adult when she could no longer walk - it's well worth doing even for big dogs!

I wouldn't greatly worry about the noise your dogs make when they are playing - my two sound like they are killing each other quite often but it's all good fun really! While the pup is so small, your older dog should be quite capable of letting her know when enough is enough, but if your older dog is a particularly tolerant sort, make sure he (?) gets some time away from the pup so he isn't plagued all the time!

I'd agree with the behaviourist suggestions, and agree that 'pack/dominance' type folk are not likely to be much use - these theories are outdated, disproved and may do more harm than good. As well as APDT, check out the apbc website to see if there is anyone on there near to you.

She is still only a baby and is testing her new environment to see what she can get away with. You will get good advice on how to set boundaries and rules from better qualified people than me

Good luck with her:)